Ask Lemmy
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I look at any individual's history when they post anything sketchy and contextualize. Anything politically motivated is likely a shill unless they have a long broadly engaged post history across many subjects with depth. I block a lot of people too.
Do you seriously think someone is getting paid to come shill for a cause on Lemmy?
I think it is bots everywhere. Yeah, I have seen new and unused accounts post stuff with a clearly political agenda. We are in the age of individual targeting. A single very skilled dev could substantially alter public zeitgeist. It has become common for scripted botnets to exist. The idea of a nation like Israel the US or Russia creating such influence is well within scope. Russia brags about their ability to shape public opinion. I think the most influential people are actually not the super popular influencers. I think the real influencers are the next layer deeper like many people here. Super popular people are repackaging the things that people in places like here are not very good at communicating at scale. Maybe it is just my bias, but I often do projects and share ideas I have never seen before then watch others do them better than myself in ways that are far more popular than mine. I have no delusion of grandeur, it is just a pattern I've spotted a few times in life and seen it happen to others. The masses are mostly like a school of fish or mice following the piper blindly. People that are capable of thinking for themselves are the ones to watch carefully.
I’m not questioning whether such actors exist - I’m questioning why anyone would waste their time on a platform as tiny as Lemmy. Even if they were successful, the number of people they could sway here is minuscule. That time and effort would be far better spent on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube, where the reach is exponentially greater.
I also question people’s ability to detect these actors in the first place. The common assumption seems to be that they’re pushing unpopular opinions that go against your beliefs - but I don’t think that’s their strategy. It seems far more effective to infiltrate echo chambers and feed the narrative within them, reinforcing the beliefs people already hold. That naturally escalates tensions with those in opposing camps, whose beliefs have also been artificially amplified.
I don’t think the main goal is to spread a specific worldview - it’s to sow chaos, distrust, and push society toward implosion from the inside.
I have 100% seen blatant ads on here. Maybe not any big companies but people doing barely relevant self promotion and other weird site promotions.
Do me! I'd honestly be interested in a report. I'm obviously not a bot, but what can you glean from my posts?
I generally tag people when they say things I either really enjoy or very strongly disagree with. You've said a lot of things I very strongly disagree with including things I have found to be right-wing and gun-minded according to the tag I picked for you.
It's not a complete and probably not an accurate judge of your character, I just choose to do this so that I don't have to engage in conversations with people where I feel it will be a waste of my energy.
I am concerned that this would distill down to argumentum ad hominem.